Kevin Rhoads Named Head Coach of Harvard Men's and Women's Golf

Kevin Rhoads is entering his ninth season as the Harvard women's head coach and is also taking the reins as the Crimson men's head coach (Harvard Athletic Communications).

By Fred Schernecker '89, Director of Harvard Golf

I am excited and proud to announce that Kevin Rhoads will be taking the helm as the Head Coach of both the Men's and Women's golf teams this year.

Kevin has coached the Women to three Ivy League Championships in the last five years and is entering his ninth season as the Head Coach of the Women's team. This will be his inaugural year as the Head Coach of the Men's team. Kevin, who also serves as the Teaching Professional at The Country Club, is highly decorated as a teacher. He is one of fewer than 350 Master Professionals in the country, was the 2008 New England PGA Teacher of the year and, in 2010 was rated as one of the top 40 teaching professionals in the country under 40 years old by Golf Digest.

As part of the restructuring of our program, we have created two new assistant coach positions. Daniel Joseph will assist Kevin on the Men's side and Claire Sheldon '10 will assist Kevin on the Women's side.

Daniel, a graduate of Penn State University's Professional Golf Management program, is an Assistant Golf Professional at The Country Club. Having worked at TCC for the past five seasons, Daniel has gotten to know Kevin and the Harvard golf team quite well. Emblematic of his pursuit of excellence, Daniel has sought out employment at the best facilities working with the best mentors available. In addition to working with Brendan Walsh at TCC, Daniel has worked at Pebble Beach Golf Links, and with Bob Ford at both Oakmont Country Club and Seminole Golf Club. Last winter he worked at Augusta National Golf Club.

Claire rejoins the Harvard community after having spent two years teaching and working in Admissions at The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut. As a player at Harvard, Claire was a key driver behind the ascension of the team to their place as the best in the Northeast -- she helped the Women to two of their three Ivy League Championships and still shares the record for the lowest single-round score in program history. As a result of her accomplishments at Harvard, Claire earned the Paget Prize that is awarded each year the senior student who has contributed the most to women's athletics at Harvard. She hasn't lost her touch on the golf course either. This summer Claire won the Massachusetts Amateur Championship repeating her victory from 2007. Having accompanied the Women's team to Florida on last year's Spring Training trip, Claire has already gotten to know many players and is enthusiastic about the season ahead.

With the new coaching structure in place and the first week of practices behind us, we feel more confident than ever in our ability to achieve our vision of providing an outstanding experience for team members while being the best college golf program in the Northeast. This is sure to be another great year for the program, and we will, of course, keep you updated on our progress every step of the way.